# Certified (David Banner album)

Certified is the fourth studio album by American rapper and record producer David Banner. It was released on September 20, 2005 through Street Records Corporation and Universal Records.
Recording sessions took place at Stankonia Recording and PatchWerk Recording Studios and The Zone in Atlanta, Sony Music Studios, Warrior Studios and The Cutting Room Studios in New York and Chi-Roc Studios in Chicago.
Production was handled by Chris Flame, Cyber Sapp, Downbeat Production Collective, Get Cool, Jazze Pha, Lil' Jon, Maestro, Mr. Collipark, and David Banner himself, with Billy Hume, Craig Love, Jake Arnold, Kevin Rudolf and Mike Hartnett serving as co-producers.
It features guest appearances from Jazze Pha, Mr. Marcus, Skyy, 8Ball & MJG, B.G., Bun B, Case, dead prez, Grout, Jadakiss, Jagged Edge, Lil' Boosie, Magic, Talib Kweli, Three 6 Mafia, Too $hort and Twista, as well as his Crooked Lettaz cohort Kamikaze.
In the United States, the album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number two on the Top Rap Albums charts. Its only single "Play" peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 96 on the UK singles chart. Music videos were released for "Play" and "Ain't Got Nothin'".

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 71/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Entertainment Weekly | B− |
| musicOMH | |
| Okayplayer | |
| Pitchfork | 8.4/10 |
| PopMatters | |
| RapReviews | 9/10 |
| Stylus Magazine | B− |
| USA Today | |
| Vibe | |
Certified garnered positive reviews from music critics who praised Banner's approach to over-the-top hip-hop stories and insightful political tracks. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 13 reviews.
Pedro Hernandez of RapReviews gave high praise to Banner for building upon his previous material and delivered an album with solid production, balanced themes and capable guest artists, concluding that "Certified treads a fine line between keeping it real and selling units, but Banner treads that line very well. Though it is his best album to date, hopefully this is only the beginning for the game's most conscious rapper." AllMusic's Andy Kellman said that despite the cluttered list of guest artists, the record delivers on Banner's established material with higher production values and gusto conviction, saying that "Certified certifies that Banner is as crucial to hip-hop in the early 2000s as any other MC." Dan Nishimoto of PopMatters admired Banner's approach of crafting a mainstream hip-hop album that over-exaggerates tropes while delivering serious topics in disguise, saying that "Certified's appeal lies in this tightrope act. Fully aware of his captive audience, Banner goes for broke to bring in as wide a swath as possible."
Steve Jones of USA Today praised the album's balance of both political and sex-filled tracks, saying that "It's a mix that is certified to both educate and entertain." Evan McGarvey of Stylus Magazine was lukewarm on the record, finding the production and guest artists not at the level of Banner's vision at times but said that its still able to deliver its twisted empathy, saying that, "Certified is mostly a frightening album because it’s so clearly not up to Banner’s full potential but still a dramatic cut above almost everything else." Azeem Ahmad of musicOMH felt that the album was over-bloated with numerous songs that told the same inane stories over similar beats found in Lil Jon's discography, concluding that "There's little familiarity, too little to relate to on Certified, and I for one would rather give airtime to British talent than to try and push the likes of David Banner, whose music may be groundbreaking, but is alien to our ears."

## Track listing
### Sample credits

* Track 8 contains elements from "King's Motorcade" written by Nile Rodgers from the motion picture "Coming to America".

## Charts

| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
| US Billboard 200 | 6 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) | 3 |
| US Top Rap Albums (Billboard) | 2 |